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520- Podcast workflow optimization can benefit your episodes

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of podcast workflow — in particular, what it is and perhaps some advice on how to manage it from an article in medium.com.

First, the article tries to level-set the podcaster of a typical workflow for podcasting and give the sequence of tasks for a workflow:

“…let’s take a quick look at an example of what a podcasting workflow might look like:

  •  Podcast episode ideation phase;
  • Decide on episode subject and search for guest possibilities;
  • Schedule interviews;
  • Write questions and/or outline of the episode;
  • Record the episode;
  • Edit the show;
  • Load episode to your podcast host to share with iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play etc.;
  • Create show notes for your website;
  • Begin promoting the show via social media, your email list, on your website, etc.;
  • Follow up with guest(s) about the show.”

And the article also suggests that you should have a software management tool: “We recommend using a tool such as Trello, Asana, Monday.com or some other similar software to keep track of your tasks.” In fact, there is a screen shot that is included to help you imagine the management tool in action during your tasks of podcasting. Also, there is a case in point of a podcast using Trello, with additional screen shots to help you along.

And finally, the idea of delegation of tasks could offload the amount of time and effort and work in your workflow, so that you can spend more time on your podcast content — especially with examples of scheduling, social media software and email software, along with other tool recommendations (like editing software).

The article then suggests going to a community of podcasters and picking the brains of others in order to get best practices and advice on what works in good workflow. In addition, going to colleges to get assistance is advised, along with using Fiverr and other sites to take responsibility for getting some of the tasks outsourced. The reason for all this advice is to keep your sacred message and content free from the obstruction of time-consuming and inefficient workflows.

Now, just as you will hear in the automobile and gasoline adds, “your mileage may vary” — the same applies here. For this podcaster, my workflow has developed since 2006 to the present. I have tried using software tools and also found the ones that work best for my model, my content and my own perspective — and I have saved time, effort, money and frustration. Pretty soon, you can get a good idea of how long the tasks will take in your average workflow from the ideation phase to the final post-publication and syndication phase that will include feedback, archiving, marketing, promotion, accounting and any other possible documentation you may need to do.

As I mentioned earlier, each person will have a different workflow, and in podcasting not one size fits all. In fact, a key time that I mentioned workflow in an exchange of ideas was in a post-interview conversation I had with Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast in 2010. In fact, besides sharing our tasks and some other spots in workflow, we both received the benefit of best practices. And then, as a result of our discussion, Daniel then produced and posted a very good podcast episode on workflow for podcasting in his podcast show. I realized that perhaps it would be a good idea to write out and document the workflow, so that I can always go back to it and modify it when another BFO (i.e., “blind flash of the obvious”) appears and will be a good step to include, even through serendipity. If you go to Daniel’s  back catalog, you can find the episode in his archives that deals with workflow creation and execution for the best podcasting efforts.

I sincerely hope that you consider your own workflow, and I hope that this episode can help you to reflect, document, and improve your own workflow to improve your show and make you a more successful podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and medium.com. All rights reserved.

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558- Suggestions when you have a bad Podcast interview

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the podcast episode content from Dave Jackson, the podcast host of the School of Podcasting show and also the one called Your Podcast Consultant: Nine Minute Lessons on How to Podcast — Small Lessons with Big Value. The theme of an episode that was published earlier is: what are some suggestions and ways to recover and cope with a “bad” podcast episode where the guest or the interview was not good? 

You can find this show episode from the publication date of June 15, 2021.

Dave titles this episode as “What do I do with a bad podcast?”

And since this topic is definitely evergreen, I listened to the 8 minute episode, and I was impressed with the flexibility that Dave discussed about how you can react from bad content or a bad guest (in your opinion, of course) that you had recorded — especially before you post or publish the episode to everyone in the podosphere.

One big reason for having bad content or a bad guest on your podcast on your show is perhaps that you did not do enough research and  preparation — mainly because you did not ensure that your guest is a good fit for your show to provide value to your listeners.

And Dave had very logical and straight-forward answers and suggestions for this — ranging from the re-arranging of content and questions/answers to focusing on the “gems” of the replies from your guest. After all, as Dave reminds us:  this is YOUR show and you control the flow and result of your own content.

One such reply is that you could perhaps turn your interview show into a “narrative” show, where you could be telling a STORY and weave the content from your guest in a narrative style or reporting, etc.

However, Dave did emphasize that the editing in the episode SHOULD NOT change the content or reply to the point where you are putting words in the mouth of the guest or having the guest’s audio “say” things that were not what the guest had really said (you know, such as what the lame-stream media has been doing for the past couple of years in their disinformation and suppression of truth and content in the social media and news streams).

I feel that what Dave had to describe to us is critical, and that this should be consumed by ALL podcasters on a yearly basis, so that our own bias and other lame content will not creep into the value that we intend to provide to our listeners. I would strongly recommend that this episode is an 8-minute gem that should be on every podcaster’s list for mandatory consumption — mainly for keeping an open and professional mind when generating content in the form of guest interviews for the podcast show.

To many, I know that I would be “preaching to the choir” — but this is so abused by the newer podcasters today that it needs to be said and it needs to be repeated. Otherwise, we would invite the lame podcasters and the lame episodes of the lame shows to keep performing their lame actions and delivering lame content, instead of providing good content that will provide VALUE to the listeners.

Thank you for your attention in this short article.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Dave Jackson of “Your Podcast Consultant” podcast show. All rights reserved.

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519- Podcasting blueprint for better interviews

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a blogpost from podiant.co that delivers suggestions and blueprint on how to make an interview podcast.

The article by Mark Steadman is located at:

https://podiant.co/blog/interview-podcasts/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=unknown&utm_campaign=podnews:2021-02-10

Mark starts out the blog post by describing a podcast interview:

“An interview podcast — a host speaking with a guest or two, over Zoom or in-person — is the easiest way to start building your authority, and get to grips with the medium of podcasting.”

Mark spends a good deal of time in a lengthy discussion (which is more like a blueprint) on How to conduct a podcast interview. This means that the main objective of the interviewer is to set up the guest for success.

Mark also gives some PROTIPs along the way, including what an interview really is — a conversation where you discuss ideas, knowledge, viewpoints, etc.

In a bullet-format, Mark also suggests the roles and responsibilities of the interviewer in a lengthy preparation for the interview. In addition, Mark will also step you through his suggestions on how to conduct the interview — including the host-read wrap around method: “That’s where the host delivers an intro to the episode, hands over to the interview, then back to the host for the outro. These bits should be recorded after the interview, and as close to publication of the episode as possible.”

And so each stage of the interview and each task is given some detail as to how to approach and set up the dialogue and continue (that includes the “good, the bad and the ugly”), such as:

  • how to start each episode of an interview podcast;
  • how a good structure would work;
  • and what good personal podcast coaching should be to help.

Interestingly enough, Mark had this to say about voice-over artists:   “no voice-over artist should come anywhere near your podcast in any professional capacity, other than as a guest. This is the host’s space, and the listener is here for the authority the host brings. Intimacy is based on authentic connection, and an over-slick intro, however good the voice artist is, puts a barrier up between the host and the listener. (I often work with voice-over artists, and love doing so. They do great work — they just don’t belong in podcast intros.)”

Mark then describes how to end each episode of an interview podcast.

In fact, he delivers a good structure for an outro (which a lot of podcasters seem to omit):

  1. “Thanks to my guest for being on the show. Links to their work are in the show notes, which you’ll find at mywebsite.com.
  2. You can support me by doing this thing (backing this Patreon, going to buymeacoffee.com etc). If you can’t do that, tell a friend about the podcast.
  3. (If you like, and if it’s applicable) Next week I’ll be talking to so-and-so about such-and-such.
  4. Thanks for listening, and talk to you next time.“

He finally gives some advice on editing a podcast interview, and, of course, his call-to-action is to promote his own consultation as a podcast mentor. He also gives some hints on editing software and a few bullets on good show notes.

Now, for this podcaster, this would be a great overview for a new or aspiring interviewer with his own show and a good beginning of enthusiasm. For the few minutes of reading these “reminders,” there is some value for the podcaster to remember some of the items mentioned.

However, there are other courses and tools that are given — let alone the plethora of podcast episodes that deal with interviewing from the interviewer’s point of view. In fact, one of the more comprehensive and detailed episodes that covers most aspects for the podcaster in planning and conducting interviews is in the archives and back-catalog of Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show. This evergreen content is an excellent launching point, as Daniel always has great detail and actionable steps for his suggestions. In addition, you should always get a copy of his “pre-flight checklist” for podcast recording (which is a MUST for any new podcaster).

We hope that you can get the proper workflow and preparation, recording and editing of your podcast interview, and that your show can then be a success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and podiant.co and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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563- Review of Zoom H1n Podcast recorder and accessories

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver what we had promised earlier — a review of the Zoom H1n portable handy podcast recorder, along with the accessory pack that supports the system.

The Zoom H1n also has a standard accessory pack. Besides being a “nice-to-have,” the surprise I got was that the USB cable (which also serves as a cable to the power source for non-battery operations) does not come with the Zoom H1n. Thus, if you really want to record to your HC-SD micro card and then transfer your recording to your computer for editing, you do need this additional $27 pack.

This review was done completely at random in an office environment, with noise in the background and shuffling the paper handy quick guide delivered by Zoom. I did record this 15-minute recording to my new 32 GB High Capacity micro SD card, which I also acquired for a mere $11.00 USD.

Thus, I hope you will not mind if this review is unrehearsed and impromptu, but it can give you an idea of this system for a podcaster. I consider it a good value so far, and I plan to put it into full use within my podcasting systems.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaealandmike.com and Zoom North America. All rights reserved.

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518- Podcaster tips to increase the value of your podcast show

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss several tips from Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com that are aimed at helping you, the podcaster, increase the value of your show to our audiences.

These tips were delivered in an email message to all on Ben’s distribution list (and we do recommend that you sign up for that list, because there are a lot of hidden gems that are contained in the correspondence).

Now, as I have mentioned before, I have known Ben since 2014, when we shared a display table at the exhibit hall during the first Podcast Movement conference. And I feel that he has given many an interesting idea and suggestion to podcasters in his blog and his site — and many of them using the freemium model (i.e., giving away good content for free in hopes that you will later sign up for his coaching, offerings and products which he does monetize).

In this case, Ben heralds the year of 2021 with great hope, after having suffered through the pandemic (or, if you will, sham-demic or scam-demic) that brought economic disaster for many entrepreneurs and podcasters who were in the process of monetizing their shows.

First, Ben gives the following statistics:

  • “32% of Americans listen to podcasts at least once a month (Edison Research): With one third of the USA’s population tuning in, you could say that podcasting is becoming more mainstream. [And Ben suggests that email marketing may be a good method to accelerate some promotion]

  • Brands that advertise their products and services on business podcasts enjoy an average 14% rise in purchase intent (Music Oomph): There is plenty of research on customer behavior proving that podcasts significantly help brand awareness and authority. [Ben suggests that your podcasts should not be going to waste!]

  • The most popular podcast platforms in the US are Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher: If you aren’t already on one of these platforms, you are missing out on a huge audience.”

Then Ben gives a couple of actionable suggestions of what you, the podcaster, can do to “increase value and make your show more accessible to the masses:

  • Transcriptions are a great place to start.
    [The reason is that] Transcripts allow episodes to be read by anyone with hearing disabilities, therefore increasing accessibility. They also boost SEO for your website, and more traffic generally means more revenue. Finally, podcasts with transcripts provide more backlink opportunities;” and then also

  • “Nurture your audience. [And then Ben points you to his deliverable called The 8 Principles Behind Highly Successful Business Podcasts to give you examples of what he means]. Essentially, you want to share valuable content that will help your listeners solve a specific problem that they, in particular, struggle with. By offering key insights and solutions tailored to your listeners, you nurture your audience, create a community, and build trust. This tends to work best for those who already have an established business and value proposition so that the podcast can work as an engagement tool.” 

Obviously, the call-to-action is to refer to the resource of The 8 Principles (mentioned earlier) and use that as a guide to continue on the road to success.

Now, for this podcaster, I have tried including transcripts since the early days of 2006, when I first started podcasting in a really professional way — and I used a transcription company that I had met in the exhibit hall of the early Podcast and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, California at the beginning of the podosphere.

Because there were hardly any tools and the audiences did not take too kindly to transcripts, I had quit using them and just relied on my show notes. But now, I would encourage you to consider using transcripts as a key distribution, sales and marketing tactic for your own show and deliver that increased value to your audience. However, I would also suggest that you ask your audience (e.g., in a survey) if they find value in a podcast episode where you conducted a trial and delivered transcripts. This should indicate to you the value of transcripts to your listeners.

But be aware — if you start the tactic of transcripts, you may have to continue with that for every new media deliverable you create (e.g., if you started a video or screencast, etc.). For many, transcripts may be an additional workflow step that may become a great use of valuable time and may not generate the ROI that you imagine (again–you would have to measure the results of transcripts to help out your show, which would be more work). Or you may not want to bother with transcripts at all and find out if just show notes will be good enough and great value for your listeners.

We hope that you can find other gems from Ben Krueger to help your show grow to a success in the podosphere.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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557- Podcasting guides and courses from an expert trainer

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the article posted by Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com that tries to give an overview of podcast creation. The title is “Podcast Production Classes: Learn how to record a podcast.”

Ben Krueger

Now, I have known Ben since 2014, and he has delivered a lot of free gems in the form of pdfs and deliverables to those who are aspiring or new podcasters.

This article is one that intrigued me, for there have been so many tutorials on creating a podcast (one of which I, myself, created and published back in 2013-2014 for a couple of courses that I targeted for screencasters called “Podcasting for Screencasters” — and which I had developed jointly with the czar of screencapturevideo.com or formerly, the LearnCamtasia.com guru, Lon Naylor).

Thus, I wanted to see what new themes or topics or techniques would be revealed and presented by Ben at this time.

In reviewing the article, it seems that Ben gave the following modules in his deliverable, which he calls a GUIDE, and he gives a very brief paragraph or two of discussion following each module:

“In this guide, we will be breaking down the following questions:

  • What is the best podcast course?
  • Are podcast production classes necessary?
  • What do I need to record a podcast?
  • What do you need to record a podcast at home?
  • How can I record a podcast for free?
  • How do I record a podcast on my computer?
  • Do podcasts make money?
  • How do I record my first podcast?”

Now, I have been a bit weary of these types of “complete” guides. And this is mainly because I had learned a lot of podcast production from two great resources that are still around since 2005 — Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting and Paul Colligan (the latter who recently does not provide “how to podcast” courses or tutorials or guides any more, but focuses on the monetization strategies that work for business podcasters).

First, I was amazed at a couple of topics that Ben provided, which were the need for a course and whether such training was really needed.

Although each topic is touched upon at a very high level, the questions that are given are the common ones for aspiring or new podcasters. And what this article really does is create a call-to-action from Ben to order a free deliverable — a free pdf or book called “Podcast Strategies: How to create the perfect business podcast.”

And you can order this free deliverable using the link.

Now, for this podcaster, I had ordered the deliverable from Ben a while ago, and for the new and aspiring podcaster, this can serve to help speed up the possibility of creating a podcast show and then put together a strategy for later monetization for the podcaster’s business.

I would strongly encourage those attempting to enter the podosphere as a podcaster to order the free deliverable and contemplate on the steps needed to start on the right path.

Or, just as well, if you plan on going down the route for paid consultation, you may want to join a membership site that delivers tutorials at any stage of your podcasting learning curve from Dave Jackson at his schoolofpodcasting.com site. I had been a member from 2006 to 2008, and this program from Dave allowed me to learn a lot of the details of creating a podcast show and improve it (still today). In fact, I had hired Dave Jackson in the past as my podcast consultant and had started over 8 podcast shows with his hired help.

Regardless of which direction and strategy and deliverables or courses that you may choose for your education to get you started into podcasting, we hope that you can plan for, and launch, and be successful with your podcast show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Ben Krueger and Dave Jackson. All rights reserved.

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517- BONUS — Networking events and Podcaster attendance

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of networking events and whether or not entrepreneurs and startups should attend — either in person or online for a virtual event.

With the lockdown situations easing a bit more and more, it could be possible for us to attend in person the inbound conferences. In this episode, we give an example of my own attendance of the Podcast Movement 2020-Evolutions conference in person prior to the lockdowns and the upcoming Podcast Movement 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. In this latter event, a ticket will allow you to “attend” in person or virtually (as they will be holding an inbound event and simultaneously online, as well).

As a clear discussion of criteria for determining a good ROI for attending such an event, we include a repurposed episode from a prior podcast called The Struggling Entrepreneur. This repurposed episode is a narration of a prior blog post from Lisa Wells, who maintains focus for getting good results from such an event — and she gives her own personal examples.

Note: after the blog post narration, I deliver some of my own caveats for attending too many networking events — and these are from my own experience earlier in my days as a novice entrepreneur and focusing on podcast conferences and meetings.

I hope that you will find value in this post for your planned “attendance” at scheduled networking events — whether virtual on in person.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and LisaRWells.com. All rights reserved.

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516- Suggestions on starting a Business Podcast

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver some ideas from Ben Krueger for those aspiring podcasters who want to start a BUSINESS PODCAST (that is, one that will not be for a hobby or just for passion).

From a recent post in his site of cashflowpodcasting.com, Ben goes on to list the main tasks of beginning a business podcast. And the main points are:

  • How do you start a business podcast?
  • Can you make money with podcasting?
  • How do you monetize a podcast?
  • Do you need a license to start a podcast?
  • What is the best business podcast?
  • What do you need to start your own podcast?
  • What is the best platform for podcasts?
  • What makes a podcast successful?

These suggestions and ideas seem pretty self-evident, but Ben has had the experience of not only starting his own business podcast and teaching about it, but also in helping others to start their own shows.

Now, as I have stated in this podcast show before, I have known Ben since 2014, when I shared a table in the showroom floor of the first Podcast Movement conference. And I have seen his blog and have listened to a lot of his episodes. He has delivered some free resources, whitepapers, pdf documents and advice — as he does subscribe to the freemium method of business podcasting.

Ben Krueger

Ben delivers a written blog post for these ideas, instead of an audio episode. And for the newbies or the aspiring podcaster, these ideas make a lot of sense, although they may seem very basic.

But once you examine them, and once you see the referrals that Ben gives to the reader about the people who appear to be the best business podcasters, you may want to put together a plan to create a business podcast for your own show.

So we suggest that you read this post and digest the recommendations and the tasks and workflow that Ben has delivered. We think that you will agree that this could be good food for thought.

We hope that these ideas prove to be ammunition for you to create your own business podcast and make your show a success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcast.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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515- When podcast listener drops — some considerations

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss some of the ideas from a recent blog post in Discoverpods.com by James Griffin. The resources that are discussed deal with the situations when your podcast listeners are unexpectedly dropping, and some concerns that you should have to alleviate this situation.

As you will hear in this brief podcast episode, there are 5 suggestions that Mr. Griffin presents so that you can react favorably once you determine that your problem is the drop in your podcast listenership. If you are a new or aspiring podcaster, you may wish to visit these considerations, so that you can be aware of them before you are surprised by any possible downward slope of your downloads or your listeners.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and James Griffin and discoverpods.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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555- When Podcasting could be last arena of free speech

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a theme of the possibility of censorship in podcasting for the podcaster, as well as the infringement of free speech to those whose passion could be curtailed by not being allowed to publish and distribute their message.

In the area of podcasting, I wanted to expand on the theme that Dave Jackson, podcaster, of the School of Podcasting, spoke about in an earlier episode which was titled “Preserving podcasting as a platform for free speech…”

In this episode, Dave interviews Adam Curry of the No Agenda podcast show (which he publishes with his co-host, John C Dvorak) and talks about podcasting and its future with Dave, and especially how podcasting can be one of the last areas of free speech in this woke-filled culture.

So, in this hour of the published episode from Dave, the topic of free speech is touched upon.  With the censorship of the lame-stream media and the news media so strong in the broadcast area of the media, this was very important to me.

I saw what the cancel culture and censorship results were from “reviews” of podcasting. I got this very early in my career of podcasting, and I quickly had a bad taste in my mouth from a couple of reviews that were just opinions and baseless (and remember, opinions are like “elbows” — everybody has a couple 🙂. And thus, when I re-started the web site and the podcast show publications for this particular show, it did not matter to me that I would not be included or promoted on the Apple platform or any other platform. I did not care for reviews by mindless people who are not like-minded and only want to complain or publish negativity in “reviews.” And this has turned out to be a great result for my podcast show. In fact, this podcast show has grown its audience without any marketing or sales or promotion — it has developed as a good resource for its own audience, and I said to myself “the heck with reviews — they are meaningless, anyway, because the social proof that they claim to provide is not worth the woke-based environment that it brings, and the aggravation of the negative comments are not worth even considering.” And thus, I have not looked back at reviews or subscriptions for these shows that I currently have.

And so, I could understand very well the topic of censorship and cancel culture being discussed by Dave and Adam in the episode on the School of Podcasting.  And, as Adam Curry states: “podcasting is one of the last few openly distributed eco-systems” that promotes free speech and avoids censorship and cancel culture at the whim of the ideologies of management of these firms — at least, on the part of the media host that will provide your episodes to the distribution platform to get your messages to the audience who want it.

Thus, I would heartily suggest that you consume this episode to understand both the free speech element of the eco-system and how the benefits of Podcasting 2.0.

And as for this podcaster, my view is: as long as the media host stays out of the business of cancel culture or censoring my messages (and the signal for this is seeing that a “moderator” is appointed as lord of content to allow only the ideology of management to be published), then podcasting can actually be the last frontier of free speech — and it would not be a platform of brainwashed or woke directions, but that of free speech.

We hope that you enjoy the content of the episode interview that is given in these show notes from Dave’s podcast show, and that you can also understand and appreciate the nature of the eco-system of podcasting as an area of free speech for your message.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.